Escape Artist
by embrace.pure.defeat
Summary: They had different ways of running away from the world around them, but that could be what finally connects the two together ...
1. Chapter 1 Fleeting

Green eyes looked every which way, taking in all the new sights. Sounds attracted the figure's attention again and again, causing the dark head to swivel around, studying the source of the noise for a moment before moving on to other things. She let her arms stretch above her head, trying to relieve her body of the stiffness that the unfamiliar feeling of a gigai brought. The dark-haired girl let her head fall back for a moment, studying he sky above her head. The sky … It looked pretty much the same here as in Soul Society. At least that was the same- everything else here was so new to her. She jammed her hands in the pockets of the cargo shorts she wore, letting her eyes wander.

She found herself attracted to a large window display with lights and bright colors- on the cardboard stand-in, the words "Defend your Country!" were written in a flowing silver script. On the cutout, there was a tall man in shimmering armor, holding a sword above his head. He had a head of deep gold hair and dark-colored eyes. A slender, beautiful woman with long dark hair stood next to him. She also wore armor, though it ended at her waist and gave way to what looked like a dress with a slit up to where the armor ended on her thigh. In her hands she held a staff that looked like it was encased in fire. On the muscular man's other side was a scrawny looking man, with a cowl over his face and a slight hunch- only his eyes and a scraggly hand that clutched a dagger were visible. A shadow loomed in the background over a pristine-looking city. "Defend, huh?" she muttered, stopping in front of the display and staring in, but hardly actually looking at the display.

_"I wanna be a Shinigami." The boy said suddenly, his focus still on the sky that was just barely visible between the leaves of the tree they lay beneath. She rolled on her side to look at him, a question on her face. The redeaded boy didn't look at her, but he continued speaking anyway. "Shinigami … they can protect everyone. It's their job … Isn't that a wonderful thing?" he said dreamily. Now he looked at her, his lavender eyes sparkling. "I'm gonna be the best one, Yuyu. You'll see."_

Miyamoto Yuu brushed her hands along her waist, almost able to feel the sash that would normally be tied there. _Tsu-nii … _Her eyebrows drew together slightly, her thoughts still consuming her. "I'll make you proud, Tsu-nii … I'll live out what you wanted." She murmured with a soft smile as she touched the glass in front of her with one hand. That's what she had to do- he couldn't do it himself anymore, and she had promised that she would achieve the dream he so cherished. Yuu brushed a hand through her short dark hair, broken out of her reverie by another voice next to her.

"That won't be out for a while."

She looked down at the newcomer, who apparently had just exited the store with the display she was still positioned in front of. Her expression must have shown her slight confusion, because the boy pointed at the display. "Hero File 3." he explained. "It won't be out for a couple months at least, probably longer, knowing the company." He was wearing all dark clothes, aside from some white gloves on his hands. He was blonde, giving him a bit of an exotic appearance, with only one green eye visible, the other hidden beneath his long bangs. In one hand he held some odd device, while he adjusted the hat on his head with the other. He was at least a head shorter than Yuu, and by the way he talked, he probably thought that the masculine female was a guy, like most people did. Oh, well. She didn't correct it- she never did. It could disappoint people, and she would never do that.

"Who are you, anyway?" the boy was asking, watching her face closely. "Are you new here?" Akine was a pretty small city- it was technological and good for his business, but he was pretty certain he knew at least the face of everyone that lived here, and this guy was definitely not someone he had seen before. _And with that dark skin of his, I'd definitely remember. _He thought, frowning at the stranger.

"Oh! Miyamoto Yuu. I just moved here, actually …" the brunette supplied, smiling gently. "And what's your name?" she asked, her voice smooth and gentle, if a little deeply pitched. The blond boy studied her for a long moment before sighing slightly.

"Yukio." He responded, not even bothering to speak his last name- it wasn't as if most people could pronounce 'Hans Vorarlberna' anyway. It was good for his company, to have an exotic name- but it just became tiring to say it or try to teach others how to say it all the time during day-to-day interactions. It wasn't worth it, at least not to him. The stranger- Yuu- was staring at him curiously. "What?"

In fact, Yuu had been studying the 'odd device' in Yukio's hand. She pointed, blinking in slight confusion. "What is that?"

Yukio looked at her like she had horns growing out of her head. "Are you from some country town, or something?" he questioned, to which Yuu only gave a slight nod. Hey, she had to have some kind of cover story, right? And she probably looked enough like an outsider anyway, with all her looking around like she'd never seen any of this stuff before. Yukio seemed to accept this answer, but gave a slightly derisive scoff anyway. "It's a game system. You play games like that," he gestured again at the 'Hero File 3' display. "on it like this. Look," he tilted it slightly so Yuu could see, and played a bit of whatever game he had in it. It didn't look like anything she would know, but she found herself fascinated anyway. The characters looked a little like the ones on the display. "This is Hero File 2." Yukio said simply, making the tall and muscular man cut down some enemies on the little screen.

_His reiatsu … _Yuu's eyes flickered to Yukio's face for a moment, but he didn't seem to notice- he was far too absorbed in the fight he was in on his game. _He's pretty powerful … _She made a mental not to keep an eye on him- after all, with whatever weird Hollow signatures she had been sent to investigate, it was pretty likely that they would eventually target someone like Yukio. Especially since she couldn't recall sensing a reiatsu like his before …

"Are you paying attention?" Yukio asked suddenly, his impatient voice cutting into her thoughts. He huffed, looking vaguely annoyed that she had gotten lost in her thoughts.

"Sorry …" she responded quickly, offering an apologetic smile. Yukio simply scoffed, shutting off his game and tucking the system away. He didn't really appear to be all that interested in talking anymore. In her head, Yuu panicked. _Ah, I upset him, didn't I?! I should have paid more attention …! _"Yukio-san," she began, and he actually spared her a glance, still looking a little frustrated. How much had she missed of what he said …? That thought only made her feel guiltier. "So … These video games. You can play them on systems like that? Are they hard?" she asked, trying to act interested in the hopes that she could cheer him back up.

"Depends on what one you've got." He responded with a slight shrug. "People are good at different ones, but I'm pretty good at most of them." He bragged with a slight smirk. The look on Yuu's face- the one that said the brunette believed Yukio's words- only stroked his large ego even more. He was about to say more, when a small alarm went off on the watch Yukio wore on his wrist. He glanced at it, and then took another glance at Yuu, whose expression displayed nothing but curiosity. "I have somewhere to be." He said suddenly, tucking his hands in the pockets of his coat before he turned on his heel and walked off, ready to get to work. He had to build his company … After all; he needed to keep his promise. He'd build it to be the best it could be, and then collect what was left of his old comrades.

Yuu watched him go, her green eyes still curious. But she didn't follow- no; she could simply keep tabs on his reiatsu. There was no need for her to follow him now. But she did watch until he turned a corner and went out of sight. "Yukio-san …" she said under her breath, brushing a hand through her dark hair. "I wonder if he's got something to do with all this …" the Shinigami murmured aloud, tucking her hands in the pocket of the grey hoodie she wore. She hoped not- he seemed like a good kid. In fact, she'd make sure that neither Yukio nor anyone else here would be a part of it. Innocents didn't need to be involved … And she'd work to keep them as uninvolved as possible.


	2. Chapter 2 Living

It was nice, he supposed, to get some fresh air. And anyway, if he was going to use this city to further his business, he needed to make sure that no one forgot his face. He offered slight nods and small smiles of greeting to those that he saw- most knew his name, at least. Yukio walked into the park, his hands tucked into the pockets of his coat. It was a little warmer than he'd like, but he didn't really like running around without the trench coat that always enveloped him.

He took a seat on a small bench across from the park's fountain- honestly; he thought the fountain was ugly. The water was hardly blue- it had a sort of sickly green color and the once-white stone of the fountain was now an ugly sort of grey. He didn't know why it was kept around. To him it was an eyesore, but that didn't stop people from tossing coins into it and making a wish ... Did they really believe in that stuff? Wishes weren't real. But still, even today, people would toss a coin in on their way through the park.

Today, though, one of the faces of the wishers caught his eye. It was that country-kid from the other day- Yuu. The tall figure approached the fountain, brushing that sloppy brown hair out of his face before tossing in some coins. With a weird sort of smile, Yuu's hands were then clasped in front of his body. _How weird._ Yukio thought, pulling his game out of his pocket and starting it up, though his emerald eyes flickered up to the stranger a few times. _Weirdo._ He glanced up once more, letting his eyes drop again before flickering back up. Yuu wasn't standing there anymore, and there was no sign of the dark-haired stranger anywhere. _Where ... _

"Yukio-san, right?" the deep voice from behind startled the blonde, and his head jerked around to find the person he'd just been looking for. He only offered a slight nod, trying to regain his composure. The friendly smile on Yuu's face didn't change at all, almost as if Yukio's reaction had gone totally unnoticed. Yuu was standing behind the bench, leaning over the back of it. "Oh- that's Hero File 2, right?" Again, Yukio nodded, returning his attention to the game. He could still feel Yuu's presence behind him, and could almost feel the alert, enraptured way in which the green-eyed youth was watching the game.  
Yukio, while he liked to show off, wasn't really sure he liked the way Yuu was almost breathing down his neck. "Don't you have anywhere to be? You just moved, right?" His question seemed to take the other by surprise, as Yuu straightened and scratched his head.  
"Well, it wasn't a whole lot to move … It's just over that way anyway." The response came late, and the direction the tall figure pointed made it even more suspicious. Yukio frowned, pausing his game and lifting a brow at the brunette.

"… There isn't a residential district that way." Yukio watched Yuu flounder for an answer- arms flapping and mouth slightly agape. After a moment he scoffed lightly. "Are you a runaway or something?" he could understand that much, at least. Yuu hesitated a moment and then nodded, looking a little sheepish. _I knew it._ the boy thought with a slight smirk. Then Yukio scowled slightly, looking Yuu up and down. _Well … He'd probably be good for manual labor._ The blonde went back to his game, appearing disinterested. Gotta keep them thinking you don't really need them, after all. Like you're doing them a favor. "What if I gave you a live-in job? You work at my company, and I'll give you a place to stay. You can at least do manual labor, right?" he glanced up at the dark-skinned fellow, who blinked a few times, presumably in shock.

"… Really?" came the response. Yuu was a little dumbfounded- both at the offer and that someone who seemed as young as Yukio having a company of his own. Maybe it's his dad's? She'd heard that kids liked to take ownership of their parents' things sometimes. _And anyway … I need to keep an eye on him anyway, right?_ With that, Yuu's smile returned. "If it's not too much trouble for you! I'll do my best!" she said brightly. Yukio seemed pleased with the answer, which only made Yuu's smile widen.

"Come on then." Yukio beckoned, standing and shoving his game in his pocket after pausing it once more. Yuu followed obediently, that cheerful smile still on her face. She shoved her hands in her pockets as she followed him, letting her eyes trail over the different parts of the city that she'd missed before. It was a nice place- so many things she wasn't used to. But she'd complete her mission, at the very least! She'd figure out what was going on, even in a city that seemed more unassuming than most like this. Yukio was the only person she'd met with a decently sized reiatsu, which made it even more important that she kept an eye on him. He'd be a huge target for whatever was going on here …  
When Yukio stopped, she almost crashed into him, stumbling close and half-leaning over the much-shorter male. He shot her a somewhat annoyed look and she could only smile apologetically- though even that only lasted a second. "This …. This is it?!" she almost yelped. It was huge- a mansion! It had to be! There wasn't much of a yard, and it seemed to blend in with the apartments near it. Yukio turned away from her with a slight roll of his eyes, not bothering to respond and merely unlocking the gate and the door, leading Yuu inside.

It was like that first day all over again. Yuu was staring around the house with wide eyes, mouth slightly open in shock. Everything seemed to capture her attention, from the various furniture to some paintings on the walls. It all seemed so affluent, Yuu was almost afraid to touch any of it. Of course, she also almost became separated from Yukio, who hadn't even stopped to wait for her when she started to become distracted. The gangly girl scrambled to catch up, still looking around as they walked but making sure to stick close as to avoid getting lost in this big place. Somehow, it didn't seem too personal- there were places here and there that looked lived-in, but the area that Yukio led her to was one of the ones that didn't. Wasn't this part of the place used? Yuu wanted to ask, but thought better of it. She didn't want to irritate Yukio any more than she already had, after all. She'd have to apologize for that later too.

"Here." Yukio said, shoving open a door that led to a room off the hallway they were in. It was larger than where she stayed back home, and Yuu could only smile at it. The bed seemed comfortable, and the room was cozily decorated. Was it a guest room? She slipped past him into the room, inspecting every bit, the smile never leaving her face. The blonde fullbringer merely watched from the doorway, scoffing slightly. "You should be thankful! You wouldn't have a chance for a room like this without me." He said arrogantly, smirking.

"Of course! Thank you very much, Yukio-san." Yuu responded, whirling to face him with a warm smile. Yukio grumbled something under his breath and broke eye contact, having not expected such a bright and affirmative response. Seriously, what was up with this guy?  
"Anyway, you can start working tomorrow. Get settled." He said quickly, shoving his hands in his pockets and disappearing down the hallway. Yuu watched him go before shutting the door to her room, flopping onto the bed afterwards, heaving a slight sigh.

She hadn't run into any problems yet with whatever signatures the 12th Division had picked up. The only abnormal thing she'd found had been Yukio with his odd reiatsu, but it was hardly similar to anything that she had been told to watch out for. But it also meant that'd he'd probably end up a target... Yuu let one hand rest where her purple sash would normally be, the other arm flopping over her eyes. _I'll protect Yukio-san, and this town. It's my job after all … I'll do it. Whatever it takes …_


End file.
